“The building of the boutique I work for caught fire last night,” I say quietly. “I called Becks to tell her why I’d miss the grand opening but there won’t be one, not yet. I don’t have to be at work tomorrow. My boos thinks the fire was bad enough that it could be a while before we get to open. I’m gonna call her back in a couple days and she should know more then about how much damage there is, and… uh… all that. At least no one got hurt.”
His eyes are pointed at his feet now, but his jaw keeps flexing.
I don’t continue talking, because he’s not being very receptive. And I find that it’s making me angry.
I mean, I was the one bit by a venomous snake, not him. Why is he so angry? Yeah, I guess it’s because I tried to leave.
My bladder nudges at me, but the IV bag is nearly empty, so I decide to sit tight and wait for Cat to come back in.
We sit in silence for… forever before she does. First, I inspect my nails. Then, I count the tiles on the drop ceiling. And then, I decide to look at him. No, I decide to watch him. I decide to stare at him with my best evil eye possible so that when he looks at me, he’ll see that I’m angry, too.
He sits a while, staring at his feet. Then, his eyes are trained at the ceiling. I’m on the precipice of feeling invisible when our eyes meet and his lips twitch, as if he’s about to finally speak to me when there’s a knock at the door.
He unlocks and opens it, letting Cat in.
“Is that bag empty? We can go then, yes?”
“Not so fast.”
“We need to go.”
“I think she should stay overnight so I can keep an eye on things.”
“You said she’s gonna be fine.” He steps forward and is about to lift me.
She puts her hand on his arm and his eyes go strange. She steps back as if she didn’t mean to do it.
“Tyson, listen, please. I need to keep an eye on her blood pressure, the wound site, her temperature. I’ll get her a blanket and you can sleep on the sofa. Ivy can stay in that bed so I can check on her a few times and make sure there’s no complications. If all goes well overnight, take her home in the morning, but I’ll then need to see her the following day so will want you to either bring her here or have me to your place.”
Ty glares at her for a minute with his lip slightly curled. She stares directly into his eyes and her no-nonsense attitude is not only impressive, but evidently effective.
“We need food,” he says.
“That was going to be my next offer. I’ll get something sent over. I’ll wheel in the television from the waiting room and you two can watch. I’ll be back with food in a bit and then I’ll be in every two hours to check on Ivy.”
He grunts at her in acknowledgement and then sits back down.
“Um,” I start.
Both sets of green eyes swing to me.
I close my mouth and straighten up.
“I have to pee. Where can I do that? And my ankle really hurts like it’ll kill if I step on it, so I don’t know if that’s because I twisted it when I fell after the bite or if it’s because of the bite.”
“It’s best you don’t walk on that foot. Let me get you a wheelchair. I have one in the storage room. I’ve got rails in the bathroom, and ---”
“I’ll carry her.” Tyson erases the space between us and is lifting me before she gets a chance to finish.
“Oh. Okay,” she says belatedly and wheels the IV along beside him, gesturing to the waiting room, which has a big reception desk, several chairs and sofas, a television, and two doors, one marked as the restroom.
Tyson carries me in.
“Don’t put any weight on it. Come, Tyson.”
“I’m not leaving her.” He looks at his mother like she’s insane.
“I have to go pee,” I tell him.
He frowns. “So, do it.”
“I need privacy for that.”
“Why?” he asks.
Cat’s eyes go round and she gives her head a shake. “Just wait outside the door for her. Women don’t like to do that in front of men.”
Tyson’s eyes bounce between us and then he sets me down carefully and I hold the metal rail on the wall so I can keep my weight off my foot. He steps out of the bathroom and I shoot Cat a relieved look that gets me a half a smile from her before she shuts the door.
“Don’t pull those jeans back up, Ivy,” Cat calls from outside the door. “I’ll zip upstairs and bring you back a pair of shorts.”